PepsiCo chief Indra Nooyi meets Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

NEW DELHI: PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi today met Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Officials in the Ministry and spokesperson of the company declined to comment on the agenda of the meeting, which is widely seen as a courtesy call.

Nooyi is also expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley during her India visit. Various global corporate biggies have called on Modi and other ministers of the BJP-led NDA government in the recent past.

PepsiCo has been focusing to enhance its presence in India. Last year the company had announced to invest Rs 33,000 crore in India by 2020 to ramp up operations.

The company, which has so far invested $2 billion in India since its entry in 1989, plans to strengthen its capability in various strategic areas including innovation, manufacturing, infrastructure and agriculture. India has been one of the top five markets of PepsiCo and it has eight brands which clock turnover of over Rs 1,000 crore in the market.

The company has 42 plants across India and apart from cold drinks like Pepsi, 7UP, Mirinda and Mountain Dew, it sells snacks under Lehar, Uncle Chipps and Kurkure brands, among others.